1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to an air cleaner, and more particularly to an air cleaner assembly adapted to an engine for filtering air prior to combustion.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The filtering of air prior to combustion is necessary to maintain the operational life of the engine for a satisfactory period. Two of the more common methods used in conjunction to filter the air are subjecting the airflow to abrupt changes in direction which utilizes the forward inertia of the larger particles to remove them from the continuing path of the airflow, and filtering the airflow through one or two filter media of different materials.
For example, in numerous engines for lawnmowers, the air for combustion is withdrawn from the blower housing by a conduit or duct leading to the air cleaner housing. Generally, only this conduit or duct provides an exhaust to the outside atmosphere for the heavier particles which are separated by their forward inertia during the abrupt change of the airflow from the conduit or duct to the air cleaner housing. Once the airflow has entered the air cleaner housing, other heavier particles are likewise removed by abrupt changes in direction of the airflow, however, these other heavier particles are maintained internally within the air cleaner housing and eventually, upon an accumulating build up in the filter, will be released into the engine. Once this point is reached, the engine will begin to wear due to the abrasive effects of the particles therein.
A second disadvantage of prior art air cleaners is the problem of removing and replacing the filters without permitting foreign particles to fall through the carburetor inlet into the carburetor. Most prior art air cleaners do not provide a way for removing and replacing the filters without allowing a certain amount of foreign particles from entering the carburetor. The accumulating affects of this problem generally results in the requirement to rebuild or replace the engine at the expense of the user.